After days of will-he or won’t-he speculation, the Mets have apparently gotten their answer: Kazuo Matsui will be their new shortstop.

According to a pair of Japanese media outlets – the Kyodo News Agency and the public broadcaster NHK – Matsui has finally accepted the Mets’ three-year, $23 million offer.

Matsui had a press conference scheduled for very early this morning (1:30 EST) at the Nikkonarita Hotel. The hotel is within a few miles of the Tokyo Narita Airport, lending credence to the belief that Matsui will announce his Mets intentions and fly to New York afterwards.

The Mets stuck to their policy of silence on Matsui yesterday, as messages for owner Fred Wilpon, COO Jeff Wilpon and GM Jim Duquette went unreturned. Reached by The Post late last night, Arn Tellem, Matsui’s agent, said he couldn’t comment on the report.

It is not surprising that the Mets weren’t talking, especially in light of last year’s fiasco with Norihiro Nakamura. The Japanese third baseman agreed to a deal in principle with the Mets and even took a physical, but when word leaked of the signing, Nakamura backed out and opted to stay in Japan.

Earlier yesterday, the 28-year-old Matsui, who hit .305 with 33 homers in 2003 and is a four-time Gold Glove winner, admitted to Japanese reporters only that he was negotiating with the Mets.

“It’s a fact that I’m negotiating with the Mets,” said Matsui, whose signing would be the first of Duquette’s tenure as GM. “I’m in the process of selecting a team from the four I’m talking to.”

But there were several indicators that the Matsui deal was all but done.

For one, that Matsui even confirmed that he was speaking with the Mets was noteworthy, considering it was the first time he’d identified any of the teams interested in his services.

Meanwhile, rumblings surfaced that Matsui’s Japanese agent/business manager is planning to relocate his office from Massachusetts to New York. The reason for that, the theory went, is that he’d then be able to watch Matsui play and support him.

Weeks ago, the concept of Matsui in a Mets uniform would have been stunning, as reports suggested that the Dodgers, Angels, Mariners and Yankees were the favorites to land him. Ultimately, the Mets emerged as the frontrunner when none of the other potential suitors seriously entered the bidding.

With Matsui on board and Jose Reyes shifting to second base, the Mets now sport perhaps the game’s most athletic and dynamic double-play combination. The duo will also be linked at the top of the lineup, giving the club back-to-back switch-hitting speedsters.

* The Mets declined to offer arbitration to free agents Jay Bell (who’s retiring), Pedro Astacio and Tony Clark, meaning they cannot negotiate with any of them until May 1; thus, essentially ending their Met careers. Of the three, only Clark was surprising, but Duquette said the Mets couldn’t provide the number of at-bats he was looking for. The Mets were still negotiating late last night with free agent John Franco.